The realistic doll that just got even more real

She’s the fashion doll with the realistic figure – modelled on the average woman, she is of average height, with a thicker waist, chunkier thighs and bigger behind. But it seems the Lammily doll wasn’t real enough.

Lammily was released last year to combat the unrealistic expectations of body image placed on girls by Barbie. At the time of release, 19,000 dolls had been pre-sold. Now shoppers can buy an accessory pack for the doll to help explain – and demonstrate – what happens when you get your period.

Creator Nickolay Lamm is selling ‘Period Party’ and ‘Lammily Marks’ sticker packs, so the dolls can have menstrual cycles as well as acne, stretch marks and pimples. The Period Party pack contains underwear, 18 reusable coloured pads and liners stickers, a cycle calendar and an educational pamphlet.

The Lammily website states that on average, a woman between the ages of 12 and 51 spends a total of six years on her menstrual period – yet the topic is still very much taboo.

Lamm says that he hopes the Period Party accessories will encourage open conversations about women’s periods. “I just don’t think that something as core to a woman’s life and health as menstruation should be seen as embarrassing in any way, shape or form,” he tells Mashable. “I’ve read horror stories of kids thinking that they were dying during their first period. Parents are also wary of approaching this subject.”

Lamm says the kit can introduce kids to menstruation in a “very fun and disarming way”, while giving parents a useful tool. He says mothers have told him the doll and accessory pack would have lifted a huge burden when they were kids.